A design fault of the Drager Cato anaesthesia workstation.

摘要

Recently there have been reports of some newer anaesthetic machines not alarming when there was discontinuation of the breathing circuit13. The breathing circuit was opened to air, resulting in progressive decline in the inspired concentration of anaesthetic agents. This places patients at risk of hypoxia and awareness. I would like to report another fault with the Drager Cato anaesthesia machine (Drager Medical, Germany). It appears that when there is a disconnection at the common gas outlet during positive pressure ventilation, whether in volume control or pressure control modes, the machine does not alarm.